Waste Management to Report Q2 Earnings: What's in Store?

Waste Management, Inc. WM is scheduled to release second-quarter 2024 results on Jul 24, after market close.

WM's earnings surprise history has been decent. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, the average beat being 7%.

Q2 Expectations

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $5.4 billion, implying a 5.7% increase from that reported in the second quarter of 2024. Revenue growth across all the segments is anticipated to have driven the top line.

Our estimate for second-quarter 2024 revenues from Collection is pegged at $4 billion, implying a 14.6% increase from the year-ago quarter's reported figure. This is likely to have been due to the customer lifetime value model that has been driving strong organic revenue growth and its sales metric.

We expect Landfill's revenues to be $1.8 billion, suggesting 1.1% growth on a year-over-year basis. TheTransfer segment's revenues are estimated to be $604.4 million, indicating a 3.3% rise from the year-ago quarter's actual. The Recycling segment's revenues are expected to be $416.2 million, implying a 12.5% increment from the year-ago quarter's actual.

Our estimate for adjusted EBITDA is pegged at $1.6 billion, indicating 6% growth from the year-ago quarter's reported figure. Efforts on cost optimization and disciplined pricing program execution are anticipated to have improved this metric.

The consensus estimate for earnings per share is pegged at $1.8, suggesting 20.5% growth from the year-ago actual. This is likely to have been driven by disciplined pricing across the lines of business, leveraging technology to reduce costs permanently to serve its customers, and executing its strategic investments in sustainability growth.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for WM this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here.

WM has an Earnings ESP of -2.54% and a Zacks Rank of 2.

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few stocks from the broader Business services sector, which, according to our model, have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this season.

Trane Technologies TT: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company's second-quarter 2024 revenues is pegged at $5.1 billion, indicating 8.7% year-over-year growth. For earnings, the consensus mark is pegged at $3.1 per share, implying a 14.9% increase from the year-ago quarter's actual. The company beat the consensus estimate in the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 7.5%.

TT currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.95% and a Zacks Rank of 2. The company is scheduled to declare its second-quarter results on Jul 31.

S&P Global SPGI: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company's second-quarter 2024 revenues is pegged at $3.4 million, suggesting year-over-year growth of 9.7%. For earnings, the consensus mark is pegged at $3.6 per share, indicating a 14.7% increase from the year-ago quarter's actual. The company beat the consensus estimate in the past two quarters, missed in one and met in one, with an average surprise of 3.4%.

SPGI currently has an Earnings ESP of +2.54% and a Zacks Rank of 2. The company is scheduled to declare its second-quarter results on Jul 30.

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